A Changing Landscape with Cuba

President Obama met with Raul Castro April 11^th, for what was deemed, by many in the media, an historic event to begin an era of new relations with Cuba.  “This is obviously an historic meeting” Obama said and speaking to the past he continued that “it is time for us to try something new.”

We agree with the President that it is time for a new approach, though we may disagree on the policy.  We also disagree that this is historic.  After all Cuba is an impoverished third world country without its traditional communist backers, who have largely deserted it.  In need of fresh cash, the Castro brothers are playing, an apparently, foolish President in search of his relevance and a legacy.

Most troubling is Obama’s consideration to remove Cuba from the U.S. State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism.  Doing this unilaterally means, once again, the U.S. is giving without getting, and follows a pattern of Obama foreign policy as seen with Russia and Iran. 
 
We also have to quip regarding President Obama’s statement to remove Cuba from list of terrorism: "I have been on the road, and I want to make sure that I have the chance to read it, study it before we announce publicly what the policy outcome is going to be." (CBSNews, Obama Marks “Historic Meeting” with Cuban Leader Raul Castro, 4/11/2015).  For a President that thinks himself a “modern” man, does he not have email while traveling?

Obviously the President has full capability of reading the documents and conferencing with advisors on this issue while on the road.  However, the President already knows his decision and is paying lip service, as all politicians do, to choose the right time and place to make the announcement that achieves what is best for the President.  However, let’s give the President the benefit of the doubt and, maybe, he learned from his health care debacle that it can be better to read legislation before he signs it?

Lastly, there are some endorsements you just don’t want.  Like when Raul Castro, the dictator of Cuba, praised Barak Obama, the leader of the free world, by saying “In my opinion, the President is an honest man.”